YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County commissioners have approved $2,500 to be used by the Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau to promote a professional bowling tournament, and $7,500 to promote a junior golf tournament.

The first agreement is with the Professional Bowlers Association, which will hold the PBA Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau / Boardman Printing Central Open May 7 to May 9 at Amron Lanes on Main Street in Canfield.

Linda Macala, convention and visitors bureau executive director, said the event went “very well” last year during the first year in Canfield.

Macala said the $2,500 promotes the convention and visitors bureau through the naming of the tournament and links on the PBA site for hotels and other attractions while people are here.

“We advertise our area to everyone attending,” she said. “We have visibility at the tournament with banners and all of our travel guides and information getting out.”

The other $7,500 is for sponsorship and support of the the American Junior Golf Association for the 2022 Mercy Health Foundation Junior All Star golf tournament starting June 19 on the South Course at the Mill Creek Golf Course in Boardman.

The tournament has been playing at the golf course since 2016.

The tournament, which lasts most of a week, “is excellent for our hotels, our restaurants, all of the spinoffs you get when you have that many people in town for a sporting event,” Macala said. “These players come from all over the country, as well as from outside of the country.”

It’s open to the public to attend, she said.